8 Things Tom Cruise’s Jack Reacher Movies Got Right About Lee Child’s Character

While everybody knows that Amazon’s faithful Reacher adaptation works, it is worth noting that Tom Cruise’s earlier Jack Reacher movies weren’t a wholesale betrayal of the Lee Child character. Introduced in the 1997 novel Killing Floor, Lee Child’s Jack Reacher is one of the most popular protagonists in the world of crime fiction. Reacher has appeared in 28 novels, each of which has seen the iconic hero use his considerable brawn and often underestimated brains to solve a new case. Reacher’s adventures have spanned decades and continents, but his appeal remains simple. He is a tough guy who does the right thing.

It might seem like this straightforward premise would be perfect fodder for a screen adaptation, but it took Reacher 15 years to reach the big screen. Not only that, but it wasn’t until Amazon’s Jack Reacher TV adaptation that the character got a screen iteration fans were happy with. 2012’s Jack Reacher and its 2016 sequel, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, cast Tom Cruise as the character and were met with disappointment from the franchise’s sizable fan base as a result. At 5 foot 7 inches, Cruise doesn’t fit the description of Child’s hulking 6’5″ novel hero. Despite that, Cruise’s portrayal got a number of things right about the character.

8 Cruise’s Jack Reacher Was Appropriately Charismatic

The screen veteran imbued Reacher with his trademark charm

However, fans who wrote off Cruise’s JackReacher movies due to the actor’s height missed out on a surprisingly solid adaptation. Cruise’s movie version of Reacher is a quick-thinking, smooth-talking antihero just like his book counterpart, and the 2012 movie in particular featured plenty of moments where the star’s take on the character matched his ruthless, razor-sharp book persona. Many things didn’t work about Cruise’s Jack Reacher movies, but the star can’t be faulted for a lack of charm. This take on Reacher could talk or fight his way out of anything, which fits with the character seen in the novels.

7 Cruise’s Jack Reacher Was Still A Threatening Presence

The star’s cold-eyed performance ensured Reacher wasn’t harmless

Alan Ritchson’s massive frame made the actor instantly intimidating, but Cruise had to work harder to make his version of Reacher a threatening figure. Fortunately, he succeeded admirably. While his two movies don’t always live up to the actor’s performance, Cruise put a heroic spin on the same iciness he perfected in Collateral, Eyes Wide Shut, and Interview With A Vampire in the Jack Reacher movies. As a result, this take on Reacher always felt like a threat despite lacking Ritchson’s commanding physique, and this means his heroism had a dark, compromised edge that made the character more compelling.

6 Cruise’s Reacher Had A Perfect Rapport With Martin Cash

Cruise’s scenes with Robert Duvall were a series standout

Robert Duvall’s scene-stealing Martin Cash is a highlight of Jack Reacher, but the screen legend’s supporting role wouldn’t work if Cruise’s curt antihero didn’t have a perfect rapport with him. While Reacher finds time for romantic subplots in both his movies and TV adaptations, his camaraderie with Cash in Jack Reacher captures the character’s persona perfectly. Cruise’s Jack Reacher movies made many major changes to their source material, but keeping the character’s relationship with this grizzled gun range owner intact was a smart choice. Cash’s scenes humanize Reacher without softening his appeal, balancing his machismo and more vulnerable side perfectly.

5 Cruise’s Fearlessness Matched Reacher Perfectly

The actor’s penchant for stunts made him a perfect fit

Cruise’s real-life willingness to do his own stunts fit Reacher’s fearless persona perfectly and, in a meta sense, proved that the star’s casting made sense. Reacher canonically overcame fear for life when he was a child after a monster in a movie led him to use anger to overpower his phobias. This is something that comes through in Cruise’s performance, and it is aided by the actor’s choice to perform many of the character’s stunts. Cruise injured his foot while filming one of JackReacher’s fight scenes but, fittingly, continued shooting despite this. It is this commitment that shines through on-screen.

4 Jack Reacher’s Battle Scars Work In Cruise’s Movies

The character’s introduction highlighted his history of combat

Admittedly, Amazon’s Reacher fixes the Cruise franchise’s mistakes in many areas. However, one place where Cruise’s take on Reacher outdid the later adaptation was an early, subtle scene that introduced the character. When Reacher is seen shirtless early on in the 2012 movie, he is covered in scars that line up with various adventures seen in Childs’ novels. This proves just how much work went into Cruise’s take on the character, letting viewers in on a traumatic history through something as simple as a single shot. While not overly showy, these touches prove that Cruise’s character was surprisingly fleshed out.

3 Cruise’s Softer Take On Reacher Fit the Multiplex

The lack of an R-rating made Reacher’s antics less gritty and gory

While Cruise’s Jack Reacher movies weren’t anywhere near as gory as the Amazon series, this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Child’s books are closer in tone to the television show, but their level of gore would have looked out of place in a big-budget blockbuster starring an A-list actor. Cruise’s version of the character killing more enemies in less detail made more sense than the movies adapting Reacher’s most gruesome kills, most of which were too dark for the more accessible tone of the movies. The show works, but the movies were still right to trim the darker excesses of the books.

2 Jack Reacher’s First Movie Villain Was Perfect

The Zek’s interactions with Reacher were chilling

Although Cruise’s Jack Reacher might have toned down the gore found in Child’s novels, the movie still managed to translate the menace of the books onto the big screen. A big part of this was Cruise’s interactions with Werner Herzog’s chilling Jack Reacher villain, the Zek. This war criminal is a genuinely terrifying screen presence, and the ingenious casting of documentary veteran Herzog is just wild enough to work perfectly. Although Cruise’s second movie lacked a similarly compelling antagonist, Jack Reacher nailed the character’s face-off against Herzog’s deeply creepy villain and Cruise even gave the character an all-time great send-off.

1 Cruise’s Shorter Reacher Made Him Less Predictable

Cruise’s infamous stature let the movies offer a different take on Reacher

The most infamous element of Cruise’s casting as Reacher was his height. Cruise is not as tall as Reacher and the movies scarcely tried to cover up this fact. However, this makes his casting an interesting decision that fundamentally changes the character’s appeal. When Cruise’s hero walks into a room, the villains don’t instantly realize who they are dealing with. In this respect, Cruise’s Jack Reacher is more unpredictable and less of a traditional hero, something that works to his advantage throughout both movies. While not perfect, Cruise’s Jack Reacher movies do offer an intriguing alternative take on Reacher’s story.